Onkyo TX-SR608 or Pioneer VSX-1020-k?

Undream

I have been on the fence on these two receivers, and was hoping someone had some comments to sway me one way or the other...

Speaker setup:

C: Polk CS2
R/L: Polk Monitor 70 Series II
SR/L: Polk Monitor 30 Series II
SBR/L: Polk Monitor 30 Series II
SW: Polk PSW505

Room: 16.5' x 14' dedicated home theater, drop ceiling (3/4" commercial grade tile), drywall walls, concrete floor /w area rugs. Not ideal in terms of acoustics, but, it could be a lot worse.

All my speaker wire runs are Monoprice 14ga

Any recommendations?

lorit507

I had the same dilemma. I was all set on the 608, but got several opinions and read endless reviews and ended up with the 1020. One of the reasons was that alot of the cons were heat and the HDMI board had some issues. The Pioneer also had some featurs that the Onkyo didn't, like an ethernet port, and a usb port on the front so I can hook my iPod to it.

Speaker setup:

C: Polk CS1 (getting ready to upgrade to the CS2)
R/L: Polk Monitor 60 Series II
SR/L: Polk Monitor 50
SW: Polk PSW10

Undream

Thanks, I appreciate the input a lot. I had been leaning towards the Pioneer for a while now. I have an older VSX-811 that I use upstairs, and it has been a great receiver. The advancements from current model receivers versus ones from only 10 yrs ago are pretty impressive. I kinda feel like I can't go wrong... either way I go.. Interested to hear any other opinions.

kevhed72

You will get a lot of favorable Pioneer feedback from this site

Theheadsn

I have my 1020k in my setup with all tsi's except the rear. I love the heck out of it so far, had it since last year. The only problem I have with it, which was MY fault for not thinking it was important went I bough it, was that it doesnt have any pre outs for an external amp.

You may not think its important now but itll come up when you want more power ha

If you have the money go for the 1120k from Pioneer, you can find it for around 500, and its just as good as the 1020k, but better in all the right ways

On a side note, if you havent bought it yet, I would sell you mine for a good price, because I wanna upgrade haha So PM me or let me know if your interested

Undream

I guess I don't see myself needing "more power" than what the 1020 will deliver.... With Monitor 70s and CS2, is that a consideration?

Oh, also, I cant pm since I am a Noob. you could email me though undream @ Gee mail dot com.

stangjason

If I had an issue with the Pioneer 1120 and I figure the 1020 is a little weaker it would be a lack of power but even then I think it's a minor complaint. I often found dialogue hard to hear over the surrounds at times, primarily when watching TV. Now fast forward to the present I have a B&K 5 channel amp and I have zero issues with hearing dialogue and my surround experience is a tad bit better than before (it was great before except for my deafness in the midrange).

Side not I will admit that my amp didn't add that musical blasting volume that my H/K 635 added but it definitely blows it away in the movie department but my Pioneer's stock amp blew the H/K 635 when it came to movies.

larry777

I would also pick the Pioneer 1120 for the Preouts due to experience. I first had a Denon AVR-888 ( very Good Receiver ) but it didn't have Preouts. I wanted more power but wasn't able to add an Amp. I ended up buying the Pioneer SC-35 which offered some other options like 3D support and Height Channels etc. The reason I wanted more power was I upgraded my total speaker system ( Rti10's,CSiA6 and RTi4 Surrounds ) from a Polk Satellite System. You may run into the same problem if you ever upgrade your speakers. For the small amount difference in price you can get the Pioneer 1120 with Preouts.....allowing you to add an amp later.

doggie750

pioneer it is..

pdxfj

I have a 608 and enjoy it, my only complaint is I should have stepped up a model or two and got MultiEQ so there would be some help for my sub.

Heat hasn't been an issue even keeping it in an enclosed cabinet, although it is a bit slow to sync via HDMI. There is a firmware update to address the HDMI issues and I hope to do it this weekend.

Maybe if I get lucky and get another tax return this year (would only be 2nd one in my whole life) I'll spring for a SR1008 or SR3008.

B Run

I am slightly biased towards pioneer, but if you can swing it I think a better comparison would be the Pioneer vsx1120 vs the onkyo 708, they both offer more power if you don't add an amp, and preouts if you do. It'll keep you from having to buy another receiver for a while.

stangjason

pdxfj wrote: »

I have a 608 and enjoy it, my only complaint is I should have stepped up a model or two and got MultiEQ so there would be some help for my sub.

Heat hasn't been an issue even keeping it in an enclosed cabinet, although it is a bit slow to sync via HDMI. There is a firmware update to address the HDMI issues and I hope to do it this weekend.

Maybe if I get lucky and get another tax return this year (would only be 2nd one in my whole life) I'll spring for a SR1008 or SR3008.

I don't believe the Pio 1120 has EQ for the sub either. I have the HSU VTF-1 and I haven't really missed the sub EQ since I bought the 1120 and gave up the H/K 635.

tonyb

Considering the OP is doing 7 channels, either one of his choices would work at low to mid volumes. In 7 channel mode though, your only pushing out around 30 watts a channel. I would at least suggest a receiver with pre-outs to add an amp if you ever felt the need for more juice.

Undream

Thank you for all the responses....

I am not really the type of person to blast my speakers... but..that said... Its a dedicated theater room, so, I can see myself wanting to show it off here and there

Maybe I'll take the plunge to an AVR with preouts.....

You say with 7 channels, the 1020 will only have 30w/channel? how is that when it is supposedly rated 110/channel. Also, will the 1120 have a bit more power given that its rating is 120w/channel?

The 1120 has dropped to under $500 now..and its starting to seem pretty reasonable to make the jump..only 130-140 bucks more over the 1020

Ron Temple

Undream wrote: »

Thank you for all the responses....

I am not really the type of person to blast my speakers... but..that said... Its a dedicated theater room, so, I can see myself wanting to show it off here and there

Maybe I'll take the plunge to an AVR with preouts.....

You say with 7 channels, the 1020 will only have 30w/channel? how is that when it is supposedly rated 110/channel. Also, will the 1120 have a bit more power given that its rating is 120w/channel?

The 1120 has dropped to under $500 now..and its starting to seem pretty reasonable to make the jump..only 130-140 bucks more over the 1020

The 1120 looks like a much better option than the 1020. It has pre outs and is rated 110w @ 20hz-20khz which is a truer measurement of an amps capability than 120w @ 1khz. As tonyb mentioned, these receivers don't have the ability to drive 110w all channels driven. The 1120 is the most robust and it only draws 400w and it's certainly not 100% efficient. However, it's never necessary to output full power to all channels. On the bench, 30w - 40w is about right...might eek out a bit more.

The Onk draws 6.3 amps or roughly 750w. So, in fact it should have the sturdier amp section, but there are alot of factors involved. Anyway, it doesn't have pre-outs.

tonyb

Undream wrote: »

You say with 7 channels, the 1020 will only have 30w/channel? how is that when it is supposedly rated 110/channel. Also, will the 1120 have a bit more power given that its rating is 120w/channel?

It's rated at that wattage with only 2 channels driven. You want to run a 7 channel setup,then the wattage is lower. The 1120, while maybe a hair more robust,is going to do the same in 7 channel mode,but it has pre outs to add an amp for more power,while the 1020 does not.
So maybe a year or so down the road, you come across a good deal on some rtia9's, your 1020 will be way underpowered in a 7 channel HT set up and you won't be able to add an amp without the preouts thats available on the 1120.